When bushfires strike and fire crews are battling the heat on the frontline, there are hundreds of people back at Rural Fire Service headquarters making key decisions to stay one step ahead of the flames.

Two men who hiked for miles through northern California wildfire territory expecting a grim discovery were met with a joyful one instead.Jack Weaver and his brother-in-law Patrick Widen walked around police barricades, through a creek and up treacherous hilly roads to save Weaver's mother from having to recover the body of the family's beloved dog Izzy.